Vanquish in Vengeance

Incantation helped to define the sound of death metal and their ninth album doesn't stray far from the template. The macabre, lumbering grooves and aggressive blasts remain intact, but slightly brighter production gives the songs a different tint.

It must feel weird to be in Incantation. Imagine how strange it must be to head into the studio to record a new full-length, your first in six years, and carry with you the knowledge that there are dozens of newer bands out there aping the exact same kind of songs you're about to commit to tape. Recording a genre-defining classic like Onward to Golgotha early in your career sets the bar pretty high, after all (following it up with the likes of Mortal Throne of the Nazarene and Diabolical Conquest doesn't help!), and some of the younger bands who've been wearing their love for those records on their sleeves do a damn good job of trying to recreate them.

While the more talented purveyors of recent old school death metal have taken what was rapidly becoming an exhausting creative desert of a trend and turned it into the new norm, it's still far too easy to shove a mishmash of slow heavy riffs together, bury it under some audio mud, and declare, "That'll do!" There are few things more joyless than sitting down to listen to three soulless, monotonous, self-declared old school death metal records in a row, but with bands as diverse as Cruciamentum, Encoffination, Binah, and Antediluvian flying the flag for murky, darkly melodic metal of death, one's got to wonder: does the world really need a new Incantation album? After listening to Vanquish in Vengeance, I'm pleased to report that the answer is a resounding "Yes."

Incantation have never been much for tinkering with their sound or approach. The most pronounced difference on this new album lies in the production. On Vanquish in Vengeance, John McEntee and the lads have abandoned their beloved subterranean squall in favor of a brighter, more open approach. This isn't a squeaky-clean, see-yourself-in-the-riffs-shiny Swedish melodeath record; it's still dark and ugly, but it's not what we're accustomed to hearing from the patron saints of muddy guitar tones. Beyond that minor quibble (or asset, depending on how you like your death metal to sound), the album itself is rock solid.

By now, Incantation don't know how to do anything other than be Incantation, and that's a comforting trait. The macabre, lumbering grooves and aggressive blasts remain intact, as does the hellish din that spews forth from McEntee's tortured throat. Corrupted melodies and a well-oiled rhythm section (anchored by longtime drummer Kyle Severn's murderously precise drumming) keep the songs slithering along smartly.

Incantation are no strangers to the death/doom formula, but in the second act of this performance they really shine a spotlight on the most sluggish end of the spectrum. The first half of the album focuses on the kind of focused, fetid, undeniably evil death metal compositions that we've come to know and love, but title track marks the turning point. Once its twisted chords and churning central riff (lovingly sprinkled with snarling pinch harmonics) fade into "Profound Loathing", the tempo shifts, skewing irrevocably towards the lightless depths of doom. The phlegmatic pace of bass-heavy epic "Profound Loathing" is a funereal dirge, setting the stage for the latter-era Celtic Frost stomp of "The Hellions Genesis" and "From Hollow Sands" (whose opening riff is pure Triptykon).

The album closer, "Legion of Dis," stretches past 11 minutes of disemboweled funeral doom, spiking its portentous riffs with shrieks of feedback and McEntee's rumbling, animalistic growls. It unfolds, brutally slowly and with a hangman's grace, prolonging the end until it peters out, offering a shuddering demise narrated by a choir of piercing, noise, bloodcurdling howls, inaudible ranting, and total sonic collapse. It's a barbaric end to an imposing album. By now, Incantation really don't have anything left to prove, but with this latest release, have effortlessly set the bar ever higher for those than come after.